PAUL McGINLEY today made a good start in his last-ditch bid to qualify for the Open Championship when the Barclays Scottish Open finally got under way.
Heavy rain overnight and this morning forced a 90-minute delay at Loch Lomond, play eventually beginning at 9am in damp, overcast conditions.
Irishman McGinley was among the early starters as he sought a top-five finish necessary to make it to Ro
yal Birkdale next week – Ryder Cup team-mate Darren Clarke is also in the same position – and picked up a birdie on the third to claim a share of the early lead.
McGinley, who led the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in May with a record halfway total before fading to a share of tenth place, picked up further shots at the fourth and sixth to improve to three under par. That was not enough to lead on his own, however, as England's David Dixon – leading amateur at the Open in 2001 at Lytham – made the most of the par fives with a birdie on the third and eagle on the sixth. Also on three under was China's Wen-Chong Liang.
England's Nick Dougherty was on one under par with Wales' Bradley Dredge and Lee Westwood. Westwood's playing partner Colin Montgomerie was at level par.
Three of the world's top six are competing for the £500,000 first prize, but world No.2 Phil Mickelson and No.6 Ernie Els were among the later starters whose start had been put back by 80 minutes following the rain.
World No.3 Adam Scott got off to a terrible start, running up a triple-bogey seven on the tenth to slump to last place.
The Australian birdied the 12th, however, getting him back to two over.
Els, meanwhile, who was scheduled to play with Graeme McDowell and Miguel Angel Jimenez, admits he is taking a gamble by going to next week's Open Championship "rusty" after a three-week lay-off.
Els has not played since finishing a frustrated 14th at the US Open but is hoping the much-needed break will be worth the risk as he seeks a third Barclays Scottish Open title ahead of the Open.
"That's the gamble you take," admitted the world No.6, a winner here in 2000 and 2003 and third last year.
"I had a three-week break in my schedule and it's been nice spending some time at home with the kids.
"Hopefully, I'll be ready to play, I did a bit of work over the last couple of days. My confidence isn't that high but hopefully I can start building again.
"My game's been a little bit dicey to say the least. I had a much better run at the US Open but unfortunately didn't putt very well there.
"Since then, I've had three weeks off so the game's got a bit of rust on it but I've had a good run here. I've won twice and had some close finishes in the past. I feel it's a good golf course for my game and I feel refreshed.
"We've got a big run coming up with the Open and then one week off before going into a busy run right through until September, so I felt like I needed a break before this one."
Els also used his time off to get in an early practice round at Birkdale last week and feels it will make a "wonderful venue" for the Open, ten years since Mark O'Meara won there in a play-off with Brian Watts.
"It's very lush, very soft, you could almost see ball marks in the fairways," added the South African, winner at Muirfield in 2002. "There's a lot of rough so if you're going to hit it wide, you might as well not turn up because you're not going to score."
The full article contains 652 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
